HERESY OF THE FREE SPIRIT & PAUL METZGER: TONIGHT, THURSDAY, JUNE 9 @ 8:30PM
Featuring Dutch lutenist Jozef Van Wissem and Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalists Robbie Lee and Che Chen, Heresy of the Free Spirit plays Van Wissem's arrangements of lute compositions and improvisations that draw on early music, folk traditions, modern composition and noise. This special performance will be in support of the trio's new LP "A Prayer for Light" and Van Wissem's new solo album "The Joy That Never Ends," followed by a set from Paul Metzger, whose singular brand of solo banjo music is equally influenced by American primitive, Indian raga, and Middle Eastern tonality.
ICEAGE: WEDNEDSAY, JUNE 22 @ 8PM
These young Copehenhagen punks have already sold out a couple of small-label pressings of their first album, "New Brigade," and Brooklyn's What's Your Rupture? is stepping up to the plate to give the record a proper North American release on Tuesday, June 21. The following night, Iceage will be celebrating its release playing a set of their exhilarating post-punk/hardcore at Other Music.
OTHER MUSIC
15 East 4th Street, NYC
Free Admission Limited Capacity
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Amanda Carr & The New Bedford Symphony Orchestra In Concert, June 11
Saturday, June 11, don't miss jazz singer extraordinaire Amanda Carr in concert with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra!"Seaside Swing Event"
The NBSO's sparkling summer gala, Symphony Seaside Swing, takes place at the Kittansett Club in Marion, MA.
The Seaside Swing at Kittansett has quickly become one of the premier summer galas of the region, featuring cocktails, dinner, dancing, silent auction, and the music of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dr. David MacKenzie. It is the perfect event to share with family, friends, valued clients, and business colleagues.
TICKETS and TABLES SELL OUT FAST
CALL 508-999-6276
FOR MORE INFO VISIT www.NBSymphony.org
Joe Biden: "Dinner with Barack"
"Dear Arnaldo --
The President and I have a routine -- we get lunch together almost every Friday.
But all I get is lunch.
Since you are currently registered in California's 30th Congressional District, you could be one of four supporters to have dinner with him soon.
Donate $5 or more today to have your name automatically thrown in the hat here:
https://donate.barackobama.com/Dinner-with-Barack
I'm reminded every week that sitting down for a meal with the President of the United States -- without TV cameras or a big crowd -- is something only a few people will ever get to do.
You're not going to want to miss this chance.
I wish you luck,
Joe Biden"
No purchase, payment, or contribution necessary to enter or win. Contributing will not improve chances of winning. Void where prohibited. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. on 6/30/11. You may enter by contributing to Sponsor here. Alternatively, click here to enter without contributing. Four winners will each receive the following prize package: one round-trip ticket within the continental U.S. to a destination to be determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion; hotel accommodations for one; and dinner with President Obama on a date to be determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion (approximate combined retail value of all prizes $1,075). Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Promotion open only to U.S. citizens, or lawful permanent U.S. residents who are legal residents of 50 United States and District of Columbia and 18 or older (or of majority under applicable law). Promotion subject to Official Rules and additional restrictions on eligibility. Sponsor: Obama for America, 130 E. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601.
The President and I have a routine -- we get lunch together almost every Friday.
But all I get is lunch.
Since you are currently registered in California's 30th Congressional District, you could be one of four supporters to have dinner with him soon.
Donate $5 or more today to have your name automatically thrown in the hat here:
https://donate.barackobama.com/Dinner-with-Barack
I'm reminded every week that sitting down for a meal with the President of the United States -- without TV cameras or a big crowd -- is something only a few people will ever get to do.
You're not going to want to miss this chance.
I wish you luck,
Joe Biden"
No purchase, payment, or contribution necessary to enter or win. Contributing will not improve chances of winning. Void where prohibited. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. on 6/30/11. You may enter by contributing to Sponsor here. Alternatively, click here to enter without contributing. Four winners will each receive the following prize package: one round-trip ticket within the continental U.S. to a destination to be determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion; hotel accommodations for one; and dinner with President Obama on a date to be determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion (approximate combined retail value of all prizes $1,075). Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Promotion open only to U.S. citizens, or lawful permanent U.S. residents who are legal residents of 50 United States and District of Columbia and 18 or older (or of majority under applicable law). Promotion subject to Official Rules and additional restrictions on eligibility. Sponsor: Obama for America, 130 E. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601.
EP of the Week - "Erotica 8"
12" EP of the Day (picture disc)"Erotica 8" (Juno)
Side A
"World Is Mine" (Deep Dish remix extended new version)
Side B
"Money" (Kiko extended remix)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
CD Reissue of the Week - "Friedrich Gulda: As You Like It"
CD Reissue of the WeekFriedrich Gulda: "As You Like It" (MPS) 1970/2011
Recorded February 1970 @ MPS-Tonstudio, Villingen, Germany
Produced & Engineered by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer
Liner Notes by D. Schulz-Köhn
Reissue Produced by Matthias Künnecke
Original Cover Design: Peter Gross
CD Art Direction: Stefan Kassel
A rare mainstream trio session by the iconoclastic genius Friedrich Gulda (heard on acoustic piano only), with J.A. Rettenbacher (acoustic & electric bass) and Klaus Weiss (drums).
Highlights: a very slow ballad version a la Shirley Horn of "I Only Have Eyes For You" and a medium-tempo rendition of "East of the Sun."
The album also includes a creative reading of Monk's "'Round Midnight," a funkyfied take on Miles' "All Blues," Porter's standard "What Is This Thing Called Love," The Doors' hit "Light My Fire" (recently covered by Eliane Elias on her brand-new album) and Gulda's own "Blues for H.G."
CD of the Week - "Jochen Rückert: Somewhere Meeting Nobody"
CD of the WeekJochen Rückert: "Somewhere Meeting Nobody" (Pirouet) 2011
Rating:
**** (musical performance)
**** 1/2 (sonic quality)
Total Time 57:02
Recorded (November 29 & 30, 2010 at Bennett Studios, New Jersey), Mixed (February 9, 2011 at Pirouet Studio, Munich) & Produced by Jason Seizer
Featuring: Jochen Rückert (drums), Mark Turner (tenor sax), Brad Shepik (electric guitar) & Matt Penman (acoustic bass)
Despite the excellence of the four performers, guitarist Brad Shepik stands out as the session hero, with an impeccable performance throughout the album, supporting and stimulating the other musicians as well as soloing in a highly creative level. Not to mention his gorgeous tone. All the intrincate & complex tunes were composed by Rückert, except Herbie Hancock's "The Sorcerer" and Martin Gore's "To Have and To Hold." But the highlights are the vigorous opener "The Itch," on which Mark Turner shines, and "Vodka Coke."
A current of powerful, sensitively interacting colors holds the listener hostage from the first measure on, as the sounds of four remarkable individuals from the current New York jazz scene are blended together to create an excitingly vital group sound. This is music from a band with a low-keyed leader - a drummer who has everything firmly in hand - thrilling new jazz for the listener who loves expressive music that is both powerful and subtle.
Jochen Rueckert was born in 1975 in the town of Düren, near Cologne, Germany. He began playing drums at the age of six. From 1993 until 1995, he studied at the Conservatory for Music in Cologne, and after his graduation moved to Brooklyn, N.Y. In 1998, while still living in Brooklyn, he recorded his debut album, "Introduction." The band members included Hayden Chisholm, Ben Monder, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Potter, and Johannes Weidenmüller. In 2000 Rueckert received the award for musical achievement from North-Rhine-Westphalia. He has played on some 80 albums, and toured Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia.
Rueckert has worked and works with such bands and musicians as the Marc Copland Trio, Nils Wogram's Root 70,the Kurt Rosenwinkel Group, the Mark Turner Band, the Sam Yahel Trio, the John McNeil/Bill McHenry Quartet and the Will Vinson Quartet, Chris Cheek, Drew Gress, Jason Seizer, John Abercrombie, Kevin Hays, Madeleine Peyroux, Thomas Rueckert and Tim Hagans. Besides his work as a jazz musician, Rueckert has played with such rock bands as Bonny Lundy, and Seems So Bright. He also is involved with electronic music, working with Marcus Schmickler, Jochen Bohnes, and Burnt Friedman. He programs, mixes, and produces electronic music under the pseudonym Wolff Parkinson White. His book "Read the Rueckert-travel observations and pictures of hotel rooms" is available on ibooks.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Ellen Johnson premieres "Mingus & Beyond" with The Wahya Consort in Ojai, June 12
Wahya Consort Premieres "Mingus & Beyond"Creative and Improvised Jazz Supports The Humane Society of Ventura County
An exciting day of jazz events includes The Wahya Consort making their debut with a premiere of, "Mingus and Beyond," on Sunday June 12, 2011 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Ojai Arts Center located at 113 South Montgomery Street in Ojai. The Wahya Consort includes vocalist Ellen Johnson, pianist Bevan Manson, percussionist Brad Dutz and bassist Rick Shaw performing music of Charles Mingus, original compositions and lyrics, and free improvised music.
The Consort, in support of the Ojai Music Festival occurring the same day featuring composer and conductor Maria Schneider's 18-piece big band and soprano, Dawn Upshaw, is providing a discount for their concert to anyone attending the festival. The name "Wahya," Cherokee for wolf, was specifically chosen by the group to represent the extraordinary beauty and expressions of nature through their musical compositions that focus on original, creative and improvised music with elements of jazz, classical, and world music.
The Consort will be donating the proceeds of their ticket sales to the Humane Society of Ventura County. Single tickets for the Wahya Consort are $15.00 for regular admission and $7.00 with an Ojai Music Festival pass. To more information or to reserve tickets for the Wahya Consort performance go to www.JazzInOjai or call 805-272-8125. To purchase Ojai Music Festival passes and receive a discount on the Wahya Consort concert, go to www.OjaiFestival.org
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About The Wahya Consort
The Wahya Consort is a group of seasoned musicians stretching the boundaries of jazz, classical and improvised music. The name "Wahya," Cherokee for wolf, was specifically chosen by the group to represent the extraordinary beauty and expressions of nature that inspires the music they create. Together they contribute their talents through the instrumentation of vocals, percussion, piano, bass and occasional special guest artists. Whether they are collaborating on inventive improvisations, renditions of jazz classics or creating original compositions and lyrics, the Wahya Consort brings a conscious dimension to group performance. The members of the group include: Brad Dutz, Ellen Johnson, Bevan Manson, and Rick Shaw.
Ellen JohnsonDescribed by Jazz Journal InternationalMagazine as "superior jazz singing by an artist of the highest quality," Ellen has three critically acclaimed jazz CD's that include These Days, Chinchilla Serenade and Too Good To Title. These Days, called "one of the best albums to be heard from a no-nonsense jazz singer" (DownBeat) and a "sophisticated and successful album that raises the standard of modern jazz singing by at least one notch" (All About Jazz), features a duet with legendary vocalist Sheila Jordan. Johnson is currently working on a new project targeted to be released in 2012, Form and Formless, that will feature guitarists Larry Koonse and John Stowell doing original creative improvisational compositions with classic standards. Ellen has performed, recorded and studied with many exceptional musicians including; Charles McPherson, Louie Bellson, Bobby McFerrin, John Clayton, Willie Pickens, Don Braden, Roy McCurdy, Billy Drummond, Cameron Brown, Gene Aitken, Hugh Martin, Marni Nixon, and George Shirley.
One of the most adventurous singers in the contemporary jazz scene, Johnson was recognized in 2006 as one of the top three jazz vocalists of the yar, along with Dianne Reeves and Diana Krall, by jazz journalist and producer Arnaldo DeSouteiro in his annual Jazz Station Poll. She has been a featured soloist for performances of Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts filling the shoes of soloist Alice Babs so well that even Ellington author Stanley Dance commented how good her renditions were in comparison. Ellen's versatility for many genres of music contributed to her winning a finalist slot in the American Traditions Vocal Competition where she performed jazz, musical theater and classical renditions of songs for a prestigious panel of judges that included Della Reese, Charles Strouse, and William Warfield.
Ellen is also a songwriter, lyricist, publisher, educator, writer and is the founder of Vocal Visions Records which promotes and produces artists and instructional products, including her own publications, The Warm Up CD, Vocal Builders and You Sing Jazz. Ellen has published lyrics to the famous Sonny Rollins composition, "St. Thomas" and Charles Mingus's "Peggy's Blue Skylight," "Nostalgia In Times Square" and "Noddin Ya Head Blues."
She is currently writing the biography, Jazz Child: The Story of Sheila Jordan, set for publication in the near future. Ms. Johnson, who has a Masters degree from San Diego State University in Vocal Performance, has been on the voice faculties of the University of San Diego, the Old Globe Theatre's MFA program. California Polytechnic University Pomona and has given master classes in vocal jazz at the University of Southern California among many other colleges. She was a keynote speaker on the "Art Song of Duke Ellington" for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) international conference and served as president and co-founder of the Jazz Vocal Coalition (JZVOC).
Ellen was the Jazz Editor for Singer&Musician Magazine, past president of the San Diego Chapter of NATS, and was the California vocal jazz representative for the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). She has been a panelist for several music industry and vocal conferences that included a variety of industry professionals and artists such as: Alan Paul, Jay Clayton, Jon Hendricks, Mark Murphy, Kurt Elling, Jay Clayton, Kitty Margolis, Dr. Hans Von Leden, and others. Ellen currently resides in the beautiful Ojai Valley of California where she maintains an active professional singing career, conducts clinics and workshops, produces video and music projects through Sound Visions Media, and is a Creativity Coach.
Brad Dutz
"Percussion wiz" Brad Dutz's unique sound is a result of his expertise with unusual percussion instruments and his ability to creatively combine them together. In addition to playing mallets, Brad specializes in hand percussion and a variety of percussion instruments including; congas, berimbau, bata,bodhran, bones, pandiero, djembe, tabla,kanjira, doumbec, riq, and others. He started his musical journey at age seven in Decatur, Illinois and graduated from North Texas University in 1981. He moved to Los Angeles to study with Luis Conte who still remains a strong influence as both a teacher and friend. Beside his eleven solo CDs, Dutz has co-produced twelve others and played as a sideman for over two hundred recordings. His album credits include: David Benoit, Rick Braun, Jeff Berlin, Jeff Bridges, Rickie Lee Jones, Leo Kottke, Alanis Morrissette, Willie Nelson, Uncle Festive, Steve Smith, Terence Trent D'Arby, KISS, Tribal Tech, and various At the Movies CDs as well as live performances with Airto, Maynard Ferguson, Kenny Loggins, Frank Sinatra Jr., and countless others.
His film and TV credits include: Beverly Hills 90210, Mission Impossible, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, Wall-E, Syriana, Ocean's Eleven, Transformers, Prince of Egypt, Ocean's Eleven, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek V, Little Mermaid, Nightmare on Elm Street, Family Guy, Kind of the Hill, and iMax films Mysteries of Egypt, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Amazon, and Island of Sharks. Through endorsements with Vic Firth, Remo, Yamaha, Paiste, Roland and Mountain Rhythm, Brad does educational clinics and concerts. In 1995 Warner Brothers and Interworld selected Dutz to do eight videos for beginning percussionists entitled, Have Fun Playing Hand Drums. Since becoming a faculty member of the Cal State Long Beach music department, Brad has finished three books: Practicing Music On Hand Percussion, Manipulations In Time and Duos, Trios, and Quartets for Percussion and in 2002 his Obliteration Quartet was the subject of a documentary film. Brad remains active in the LA underground jazz scene and on the music faculty of California State University Long Beach.
Bevan Manson
Los Angeles composer and jazz pianist Bevan Manson lives in many worlds, balancing them without seemingly "crossing-over." He is a jazz pianist, an active classical composer, an arranger and producer for many vocalists, a composer of over 100 jazz tunes and the scores for several independent films. His work in the L.A. studios includes frequent on-camera appearances as a pianist in TV and film. His compositions have been remarked on for their engaging tonal melodies and rhythmic complexity. In an interview for "The Inner Voice," the newsletter of the Southern California Viola Society, Polish/American violist Piotr Jandula was asked about solo pieces for viola that he favored. He mentioned only one: "I'm looking forward to learning Bevan Manson's Concerto for Viola. I think it's a fantastic piece ... This piece holds a beautiful promise to all violists." Joanna Mendoza of the Arianna String Quartet performed an early viola-piano version.
In March of 2011 his "California Concertino for Flute and Chamber Orchestra" premiered at the New York Flute Fair by virtuoso flutist Katherine Fink of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Borealis Wind Quintet, and chamber ensemble conducted by Paul Dunkel. Bevan's "Quartet for Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano" was first performed by the resident ensemble Arco Voce at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. The Washington Post called the work "powerfully polyrhythmic". The American Music Center awarded Bevan a CAP grant for this composition in 2008. Other upcoming performances include "The Race for the Apple Pie", for violin and viola, and "Piano Quartet", both at the Kairos series. Other performances of his music include; "Irony Untold" performed by members of the San Francisco Symphony at the Stern Grove Festival, and "Hotel Viola," which had its first performance at the 2008 International Viola Congress by the Southern California Viola Choir, and was later featured in New York City by the Varsity Violas. He was commissioned to write music for Sierra Chamber Music, L.A. Chamber Orchestra associate principal violist Victoria Miskolczy and for the Southern California Viola Choir. Bevan has worked with Darol Anger, Ron Jones' L.A. Big Band, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Gunther Schuller, Dave Liebman, George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Paul McCandless, Cecil McBee, and Bob Sheppard.
He has recorded for the Iris, Flying Fish, and Challenge labels, and has been featured at the Montreux, North Sea, San Francisco, Boston, and Tirano jazz festivals. Formerly Director of UC Jazz at Cal Berkeley, Bevan served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory for ten years, taught at Berklee College and the Thelonious Monk Institute, and is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. Bevan is currently a guest composer with the Malibu Friends of Music Kairos series and aside from composing; he remains an active jazz pianist.
Rick Shaw
Rick Shaw is one of L.A.'s most versatile and in-demand bassists, both upright and electric. He spent three seasons with the Sacramento Symphony before attending Eastman School of Music where he performed in their Philharmonia Orchestra and completed the Jazz Studies program with a Masters of Music degree in 1981.In 1983 Rick moved to Los Angeles and began working as a freelance musician. Since then he has toured with the 60's vocal group The Lettermen, and jazz artists Buddy Rich and Maynard Ferguson, recording with Maynard on his first High Voltage CD. Rick has been the bass player for Johnny Mathis for over twenty years touring all over the country.
He currently plays with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, touring with them to Japan and Latin America. Active as a studio musician, Shaw has recorded commercials and TV shows such as JAG, King of the Hill, and The Simpsons. His recording credits for vocalists include Julio Iglesias, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville, Celine Dion, Beck, and Ray Charles. He's also performed in orchestras for movies such as Freaky Friday, National Treasure, and Legally Blonde II.In addition to being a regular with the Big Phat Band, Rick also plays with Bill Holman and Chick Corea. As an educator he teaches bass students and small ensembles out of his own studio and for colleges.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
This Sunday, Jazz Brunch with Michelle Zangara @ Le Pescadeux, NY
Michelle H. Zangara will be singing tomorrow, May 5 @ Le Pescadeux (90 Thompson Street, between Prince and Spring Streets, NY), from 12pm to 4pm, no cover!Chuck and Bruno make you feel right at home. Enjoy the Cafe and lovely vibe!
"Come by and have something yummy while I serenade you," Michelle says. "It will be fun!" No doubt.
www.lepescadeux.com
An Afternoon of Jazz with Charmaine Clamor live @ Wilkins Theater, June 19
With two consecutive albums in the JazzWeek World Music Top-10, including the rare feat of simultaneously making Top-5 on both the World (#2 ranking) and Traditional Jazz (#4) radio charts, Charmaine Clamor has earned unprecedented praise for introducing American audiences to Filipino languages, melodies, and instruments – and for sharing a once-in-a-generation, astonishingly expressive voice.Recognized today as “one of the important and original jazz singers of the decade” {Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times}, a “dynamic new compass point in World Music” {Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times} and “one of the finest singers to come around in a long time” {Jerry D’Souza, All About Jazz}, Charmaine began her musical journey at age 3, entertaining passengers -- whether they liked it or not! -- in the back of buses traveling to Manila. Originally from the provincial town of Subic-Zambales, Philippines, young Charmaine provided piano accompaniment while her mother sang kundiman (Filipino torch songs) and English-language classics. These childhood memories inspired Charmaine’s enduring love of American music.
After immigrating to the United States as a teenager, Charmaine graduated as valedictorian of her high school class and went on to earn a Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Cal State-Northridge. Throughout her college years, Charmaine worked as a “KJ” (a karaoke hostess). She was discovered by the musical director of Crescendo, a vocal jazz harmony quintet, while singing Whitney Houston songs at a Filipino fried chicken restaurant.
In 2005, following nearly a decade of ensemble singing, Charmaine made her solo recording debut with "Searching for the Soul," and her “bedroom eyes voice” instantly garnered comparisons from critics and disc jockeys to legendary vocalists such as Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Julie London, Lena Horne, and Cassandra Wilson. Several pundits dubbed her “the Filipino Sarah Vaughan.”
Charmaine's critically acclaimed second album, "Flippin’ Out" (2007), brought her international recognition. On this landmark recording, she blended the soul and swing of American jazz with traditional Filipino folk music, languages and instruments, creating a new hybrid genre called jazzipino. Charmaine’s artistry was featured on BBC’s “The World” and NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” which described her music as “the perfect bridge of two cultures.”
Her third album, "My Harana: A Filipino Serenade" (2008), revived the ancient Filipino courtship tradition of harana – serenading a lover beneath her window – but with a twist: this time it was the woman doing the serenading! Charmaine’s bold vision and sublime vocal tenderness landed her on numerous magazine covers and TV newsmagazine shows in her native Philippines, and solidified her role as her birth country’s most celebrated international musical ambassador.
Indeed, because of her presence on American radio and concert appearances around the nation, Charmaine has been credited with introducing authentic Filipino musical culture to mainstream listeners. To further her lifelong goal of bringing the music of the Philippines to ever larger audiences, Charmaine served as one of the founding members of JazzPhil-USA, a non-profit organization that promotes jazz artists of Filipino descent in the United States. For five consecutive years, she has lent her notoriety to the popular Filipino-American Jazz Festival, held annually in Hollywood, at the Catalina Bar & Grill Jazz Club, where Charmaine’s appearances with fellow Fil-Am jazz luminaries inspire standing-room-only crowds.
In 2009, Charmaine was signed to a multi-record deal with Viva Records, one of the largest pop music labels in Asia. As Viva’s first and only jazz artist, her debut album, appropriately entitled "Jazzipino," brought Charmaine’s unique sound to millions of new listeners on Filipino radio and television.
In 2010, Charmaine appears on David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's "Here Lies Love" (Nonesuch), with a cast of celebrated female vocalists, including Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos, and Natalie Merchant. Charmaine was the only jazz singer selected for the project.
Charmaine resides in Los Angeles, California, where she tends to an organic vegetable garden and volunteers for environmental organizations that promote green living.
Got your FREE track? http://www.charmaineclamor.com/promo.php
DVDs of the Day - Ray Bryant & Benny Carter
Both Ray Bryant's solo concert and his apperance with the Benny Carter Quartet (Bryant on piano, Niels Pedersen on bass & Jimmie Smith on drums) were filmed on July 13, 1977, during Norman Granz' Pablo Caravan to the Montreux Jazz Festival that year.
CD of the Day - "Ray Bryant: MCMLXX"
CD of the DayRay Bryant: "MCMLXX" (Atlantic/EastWest) 1970/2001
Bryant's debut album for Atlantic, produced by Joel Dorn in 1970
HDCD made in Korea & printed in Japan in 2001
Engineered by Lewis Hahn & Gene Paul @ Atlantic Recording Studios, NYC
Cover photo: Joel Brodsky
Featuring Ray Bryant (acoustic piano), Chuck Rainey (electric bass) & Jimmy Johnson (drums)
Highlight: Bryant's own funky tune "Stick With It" with a perfect string orchestration by Deodato, plus the renditions of "My Cherie Amour" and "Spinning Wheel"
Also includes another original by the leader ("Shake-A-Lady") and covers of "Let It Be," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Hey Jude" and "Unchained Melody"
Additional arrangements by Arif Mardin ("Let It Be") and Eumir Deodato ("Stick With It," "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Hey Jude")
Additional musicians: Ron Carter, King Curtis, Pepper Adams, Garnett Brown, Joe Gentle, leon Cohen, Gene Orloff, Emanuel Green & Charles McCracken, amongst others
R.I.P.: Ray Bryant
Ray Bryant, Jazz Pianist, Dies at 79by Nate Chinen
New York Times, June 4, 2011
Ray Bryant, a jazz pianist whose sensitivity and easy authority made him a busy accompanist and a successful solo artist, beginning in the mid-1950s, died on Thursday. He was 79.
His wife of 20 years, Claude Bryant, said he died at New York Hospital Queens after a long illness. He lived in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Mr. Bryant had a firm touch and an unshakable sense of time, notably in his left hand, which he often used to build a bedrock vamp. Even in a bebop setting, he favored the ringing tonalities of the gospel church. And he was sumptuously at home with the blues, as a style and a sensibility but never as an affectation.
All of this contributed to his accomplishment as a solo pianist. His first solo piano album was "Alone With the Blues," in 1958, and he went on to make a handful of others, including "Alone at Montreux," "Solo Flight" and "Montreux '77." His most recent release, "In the Back Room," was yet another solo album, recorded live at Rutgers University and released on the Evening Star label in 2008.
Raphael Homer Bryant was born on Dec. 24, 1931, in Philadelphia, and made his name in that city during its considerable postwar jazz boom. Along with his brother, Tommy, a bassist, he played in the house band at the Blue Note Club in Philadelphia, which had a steady flow of major talent dropping in from New York. (Charlie Parker and Miles Davis were among the musicians they played with there.) In short order Mr. Bryant had plenty of prominent sideman work, both with and without his brother.
One early measure of his ascent was the album "Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant," released on Columbia in 1955. It was a splashy introduction for him as well as for Ms. Carter, the imposingly gifted jazz singer. It was soon followed by "The Ray Bryant Trio" (Prestige), an accomplished album that introduced Mr. Bryant's composition "Blues Changes," with its distinctive chord progression.
That song would become a staple of the jazz literature, if less of a proven standard than "Cubano Chant," the sprightly Afro-Cuban fanfare that Mr. Bryant recorded under his own name and in bands led by the drummers Art Blakey, Art Taylor and Jo Jones.
Mr. Bryant had several hit songs early in his solo career, beginning with "Little Susie," an original blues that he recorded both for the Signature label and for Columbia. In 1960 he reached No. 30 on the Billboard chart with a novelty song called "The Madison Time," rushed into production to capitalize on a dance craze. (The song has had a durable afterlife, appearing on the soundtrack to the 1988 movie "Hairspray," and in the recent Broadway musical production.) He later broke into the Top 100 with a cover of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe," released just a few months after the original, in 1967.
But Mr. Bryant's legacy never rested on his chart success or his nimble response to popular trends. It can be discerned throughout his own discography and in some of his work as a sideman, notably with the singers Carmen McRae and Jimmy Rushing, and on albums like Dizzy Gillespie's "Sonny Side Up," on Verve. "After Hours," a track on that album, begins with Mr. Bryant and his brother playing a textbook slow-drag blues.
Along with his wife, Mr. Bryant is survived by a son, Raphael Bryant Jr.; a daughter, Gina; three grandchildren; and two brothers, Leonard and Lynwood. Mr. Bryant's sister, Vera Eubanks, is the mother of several prominent jazz musicians: Robin Eubanks, a trombonist; Kevin Eubanks, the guitarist and former bandleader on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno"; and Duane Eubanks, a trumpeter.
Friday, June 3, 2011
NYT - "Jazz in June: Sorting Through the Abundance"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/arts/music/jazz-festivals-in-new-york-undead-vision-blue-note.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28
The New York Times
By BEN RATLIFF and NATE CHINEN
Published: June 2, 2011
As usual, jazz pervades June in New York City. Besides better-than-normal bookings in the clubs, we’re looking at the first Blue Note Jazz Festival (monthlong), the second Undead Jazzfest (June 23 to 26) and the 16th Vision Festival (Sunday through June 11).
It’s a different landscape from the usual one: there’s no George Wein-produced festival in town, since the retreat of his major sponsors. This means few produced, big-theater shows around a person or a theme, the kind of thing that almost defined the summer jazz calendar in the city. It also means the absence of some of the music’s recurring festival stars, your Wayne Shorters or Keith Jarretts or Brad Mehldaus — they’ve already done their New York business for the year. Someone else will claim our attention this June.
Ben Ratliff and Nate Chinen, jazz writers for The New York Times, sorted it out on Mr. Ratliff’s weekly Popcast. Below is an edited version of their conversation.
BEN RATLIFF Nate, why does June always look this way?
NATE CHINEN In 1972 George Wein decided to move his Newport festival to New York, and decided on June because Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, the two places he wanted to use, were shuttered for the season, so he was able to get the spaces he wanted at that time. His original idea was, “We can’t do a big festival in a field, like we do at Newport, so let’s turn Midtown New York into that idea.”
RATLIFF So the JVC Jazz Festival — later, the CareFusion Jazz Festival — was the behemoth. Which is not to say that it had no point of view.
CHINEN He always had his biggies, his heavyweights. There was a period, in the ’70s, when that was Freddie Hubbard and Sonny Rollins; a little later, in the ’80s, it was Sarah Vaughan and Dizzy Gillespie, at a time when people said, “That’s no longer cutting-edge.” But Sarah Vaughan, year after year, would sell out Carnegie Hall.
RATLIFF Now, in the absence of JVC, we’ve got three smaller festivals, almost entirely happening in the clubs — or, in the case of Vision Festival, at the Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side.
CHINEN It’s a decentralization that has to do with that absence. It costs a lot of money to reserve those big halls and pay the union costs. And between these three festivals, you’ve got three pretty different philosophies of booking a festival. Vision has the clearest identity of the three. It has to do with post-1960 avant-garde and free jazz. In many cases the same figures crop up in different combinations. William Parker, the bassist — if you look at this year’s schedule, I think he’s playing in eight or nine different groups during the course of the week.
RATLIFF He’s a founder of the festival, but in general the festival cultivates its heroes.
CHINEN There’s a ton of veneration in it. In recent years they’ve had a lifetime achievement honoree — this year it’s the German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. And then there are tributes to Vision Festival regulars who have passed on in the last year, Marion Brown and Billy Bang.
RATLIFF Undead is sort of the no-great-man festival. It’s more about what’s happening now; it’s more musicians from their 20s to, let’s say, their early 50s. It’s harder to tell categorically what’s going on.
CHINEN And it has a lot of people overlapping with the Vision Festival. Paradoxical Frog, a group that put out one of my favorite jazz records last year, is playing in both festivals: on the Vision Festival, augmented by the violist and violinist Mat Maneri, and without him at Undead. David S. Ware, whom you’d put in the pantheon of Vision Festival heroes, is playing an Undead solo performance at Homage skate park in Brooklyn. That’s another thing about this year’s Undead that I really like: It moves away from the West Village. It reflects how much of this music is now based in Brooklyn, not only by virtue of where the musicians live, but also where the music is being played.
RATLIFF The Blue Note festival is business logic as much as anything else. The Blue Note jazz club, the Highline Ballroom and the B. B. King Blues Club and Grill are operated by the same people. So the Blue Note jazz festival takes place in those venues, with a couple of shows that seem added on. It fills some gaps left by the disappeared George Wein festivals: sentimental favorites, fusion and tributes. So there’s Dave Brubeck; there’s Hiromi, the aging wunderkind; there’s Albita’s tribute to Celia Cruz; there’s Jon Hendricks’s 90th-birthday celebration.
CHINEN And the 85th-birthday celebration for Jimmy Scott. It feels almost cynically like rushing into the void left by JVC-slash-CareFusion.
RATLIFF And for what purpose, you know?
CHINEN It has a commercial instinct that I only halfway understand. There’s a night during the festival, the 18th, when the Blue Note Jazz Festival concerts are Chaka Khan at B. B. King’s, Madeleine Peyroux at the Highline, Manhattan Transfer at the Blue Note and Vinx at the Blue Note.
RATLIFF It’s like, what year is it? So you’ve got three festivals with varying degrees of aesthetic control. And there are surprises — concerts within one festival that seem entirely as if they should be in another. Which is a good sign; it means the whole scene is less frozen. The drummer Greg Saunier, from Deerhoof, is collaborating with the jazz saxophonist Andrew D’Angelo at the Blue Note, June 10, 12:30 in the morning, as part of the Blue Note festival. That sounds like Undead. And then Tomasz Stanko at the Vision Festival: that seems more Undead or even Blue Note. He’s a big name; he’s got the last track on the new Smithsonian jazz anthology.
CHINEN That whole night at Vision, June 7, is presented in conjunction with the Festival of New Trumpet Music — another thing that happens in June, with a much quieter impact but a lot of serious musicians. So in addition to Tomasz Stanko, Amir ElSaffar is playing that night, and Ted Daniel and Jonathan Finlayson.
RATLIFF What should a jazz festival in New York look like? Is there a better model than what we see here?
CHINEN What I’m missing from all this is something that the JVC festival, at its best, could do: a really big concert with an idea. Not just a birthday tribute, not just a stop on someone’s tour, but a concert that’s produced and makes a point about something.
RATLIFF But that’s a one-night-only thing, and contrary to the natural reality of jazz.
CHINEN Oh, it’s totally artificial. But when I look at the abundance here, it’s what I miss.
RATLIFF How do you feel about the Undead model of the concertgoer shuttling back and forth along a three-block radius in the West Village or Williamsburg, seeing a ton of music in one night?
CHINEN I love the idea of an overspill, the messiness of it. It fosters discovery, and it creates the festive atmosphere. In the past, during the last Winter Jazzfest — which is related to the Undead Fest, with the same organizers — you wrote about the danger of overpopularity, when the scales tip, and a pleasantly overcrowded experience becomes an unpleasant one. I hope that what they’re doing here, branching out to Brooklyn, will address that.
RATLIFF I expect to see you on the rialto about 76 times over the month. Be careful out there.
Information about the festivals: visionfestival.org, undeadjazz.com, bluenotejazzfestival.com.
A version of this article appeared in print on June 3, 2011, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Jazz in June: Sorting Through the Abundance.
The New York Times
By BEN RATLIFF and NATE CHINEN
Published: June 2, 2011
As usual, jazz pervades June in New York City. Besides better-than-normal bookings in the clubs, we’re looking at the first Blue Note Jazz Festival (monthlong), the second Undead Jazzfest (June 23 to 26) and the 16th Vision Festival (Sunday through June 11).
It’s a different landscape from the usual one: there’s no George Wein-produced festival in town, since the retreat of his major sponsors. This means few produced, big-theater shows around a person or a theme, the kind of thing that almost defined the summer jazz calendar in the city. It also means the absence of some of the music’s recurring festival stars, your Wayne Shorters or Keith Jarretts or Brad Mehldaus — they’ve already done their New York business for the year. Someone else will claim our attention this June.
Ben Ratliff and Nate Chinen, jazz writers for The New York Times, sorted it out on Mr. Ratliff’s weekly Popcast. Below is an edited version of their conversation.
BEN RATLIFF Nate, why does June always look this way?
NATE CHINEN In 1972 George Wein decided to move his Newport festival to New York, and decided on June because Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, the two places he wanted to use, were shuttered for the season, so he was able to get the spaces he wanted at that time. His original idea was, “We can’t do a big festival in a field, like we do at Newport, so let’s turn Midtown New York into that idea.”
RATLIFF So the JVC Jazz Festival — later, the CareFusion Jazz Festival — was the behemoth. Which is not to say that it had no point of view.
CHINEN He always had his biggies, his heavyweights. There was a period, in the ’70s, when that was Freddie Hubbard and Sonny Rollins; a little later, in the ’80s, it was Sarah Vaughan and Dizzy Gillespie, at a time when people said, “That’s no longer cutting-edge.” But Sarah Vaughan, year after year, would sell out Carnegie Hall.
RATLIFF Now, in the absence of JVC, we’ve got three smaller festivals, almost entirely happening in the clubs — or, in the case of Vision Festival, at the Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side.
CHINEN It’s a decentralization that has to do with that absence. It costs a lot of money to reserve those big halls and pay the union costs. And between these three festivals, you’ve got three pretty different philosophies of booking a festival. Vision has the clearest identity of the three. It has to do with post-1960 avant-garde and free jazz. In many cases the same figures crop up in different combinations. William Parker, the bassist — if you look at this year’s schedule, I think he’s playing in eight or nine different groups during the course of the week.
RATLIFF He’s a founder of the festival, but in general the festival cultivates its heroes.
CHINEN There’s a ton of veneration in it. In recent years they’ve had a lifetime achievement honoree — this year it’s the German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. And then there are tributes to Vision Festival regulars who have passed on in the last year, Marion Brown and Billy Bang.
RATLIFF Undead is sort of the no-great-man festival. It’s more about what’s happening now; it’s more musicians from their 20s to, let’s say, their early 50s. It’s harder to tell categorically what’s going on.
CHINEN And it has a lot of people overlapping with the Vision Festival. Paradoxical Frog, a group that put out one of my favorite jazz records last year, is playing in both festivals: on the Vision Festival, augmented by the violist and violinist Mat Maneri, and without him at Undead. David S. Ware, whom you’d put in the pantheon of Vision Festival heroes, is playing an Undead solo performance at Homage skate park in Brooklyn. That’s another thing about this year’s Undead that I really like: It moves away from the West Village. It reflects how much of this music is now based in Brooklyn, not only by virtue of where the musicians live, but also where the music is being played.
RATLIFF The Blue Note festival is business logic as much as anything else. The Blue Note jazz club, the Highline Ballroom and the B. B. King Blues Club and Grill are operated by the same people. So the Blue Note jazz festival takes place in those venues, with a couple of shows that seem added on. It fills some gaps left by the disappeared George Wein festivals: sentimental favorites, fusion and tributes. So there’s Dave Brubeck; there’s Hiromi, the aging wunderkind; there’s Albita’s tribute to Celia Cruz; there’s Jon Hendricks’s 90th-birthday celebration.
CHINEN And the 85th-birthday celebration for Jimmy Scott. It feels almost cynically like rushing into the void left by JVC-slash-CareFusion.
RATLIFF And for what purpose, you know?
CHINEN It has a commercial instinct that I only halfway understand. There’s a night during the festival, the 18th, when the Blue Note Jazz Festival concerts are Chaka Khan at B. B. King’s, Madeleine Peyroux at the Highline, Manhattan Transfer at the Blue Note and Vinx at the Blue Note.
RATLIFF It’s like, what year is it? So you’ve got three festivals with varying degrees of aesthetic control. And there are surprises — concerts within one festival that seem entirely as if they should be in another. Which is a good sign; it means the whole scene is less frozen. The drummer Greg Saunier, from Deerhoof, is collaborating with the jazz saxophonist Andrew D’Angelo at the Blue Note, June 10, 12:30 in the morning, as part of the Blue Note festival. That sounds like Undead. And then Tomasz Stanko at the Vision Festival: that seems more Undead or even Blue Note. He’s a big name; he’s got the last track on the new Smithsonian jazz anthology.
CHINEN That whole night at Vision, June 7, is presented in conjunction with the Festival of New Trumpet Music — another thing that happens in June, with a much quieter impact but a lot of serious musicians. So in addition to Tomasz Stanko, Amir ElSaffar is playing that night, and Ted Daniel and Jonathan Finlayson.
RATLIFF What should a jazz festival in New York look like? Is there a better model than what we see here?
CHINEN What I’m missing from all this is something that the JVC festival, at its best, could do: a really big concert with an idea. Not just a birthday tribute, not just a stop on someone’s tour, but a concert that’s produced and makes a point about something.
RATLIFF But that’s a one-night-only thing, and contrary to the natural reality of jazz.
CHINEN Oh, it’s totally artificial. But when I look at the abundance here, it’s what I miss.
RATLIFF How do you feel about the Undead model of the concertgoer shuttling back and forth along a three-block radius in the West Village or Williamsburg, seeing a ton of music in one night?
CHINEN I love the idea of an overspill, the messiness of it. It fosters discovery, and it creates the festive atmosphere. In the past, during the last Winter Jazzfest — which is related to the Undead Fest, with the same organizers — you wrote about the danger of overpopularity, when the scales tip, and a pleasantly overcrowded experience becomes an unpleasant one. I hope that what they’re doing here, branching out to Brooklyn, will address that.
RATLIFF I expect to see you on the rialto about 76 times over the month. Be careful out there.
Information about the festivals: visionfestival.org, undeadjazz.com, bluenotejazzfestival.com.
A version of this article appeared in print on June 3, 2011, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Jazz in June: Sorting Through the Abundance.
Sony Holland live @ Left Coast Wine Bar in Glendale, tomorrow nite!
Sony Holland will be performing tomorrow night, May 4, @ Left Coast Wine Bar (117 E. Harvard, Glendale, CA - ph: 818.507.7011) from 8pm till midnight. A duo setting with her multi-talented husband Jerry Holland, including songs from her lovely "Sanssouci" album, one of the Top 10 Vocal CDs of the year in the 2010 Jazz Station Poll. Don't miss!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Miss Nine @ Mynt Lounge, tonite!
Tonight, June 2nd, from 11:3opm to 5am, Miss Nine - the international DJ sensation from Amsterdam - will be appearing @ Mynt Lounge (1921 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida), along with resident DJ Julian Ingrosso. Presented by Romain Zago & Oliver Jay. 
Miss Nine's eclectic taste in music, ranging from energetic grooves with plenty of vocals to a deeper, progressive sound has been moving audiences for sometime now.She started her career at 16 not as a DJ but as a model. Shortly thereafter, she secured a worldwide contract with Elite Model Management. After moving to Amsterdam, she discovered the art of DJing and her passion for music eventually led her to acclaimed fame internationally....
A few months after touching the decks for the first time, she became a resident DJ at the legendary Motion parties where she evolved as an artist and DJ while playing alongside masters such as John Digweed, Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, and James Zabiela.
Miss Nine took to the decks as the youngest artist at the 10th edition of Dance Valley and at the end of 2005 she was then asked by Grammy Award winning DJ duo, Deep Dish to join Bullitt Bookings. She hasn’t stopped rocking the decks since.
With performances all around the world such as clubs like Privilege in Ibiza, Avalon in Los Angeles, Ministry of Sound in London to name a few venues outside of her other projects like Levi’s Curve campaign and the face of Pioneer 350 series.
Getting ready to tour globally, she graces us once more after her stunning performance for Miami Music Week. If you didn’t get a chance to get blown away the first time, don’t miss it this time around. Table reservations strongly advised.
Obama 2012: Deciding something today
"Dear Arnaldo:According to our records, you are currently registered in California's 3oth Congressional District.
Earlier today, a whole bunch of us who have already made a donation to the 2012 campaign decided something.
We decided we're ready to give for a second or third time -- if and only if you're willing to make your first donation to the campaign right now.
Your gift will be matched by a real person. You'll be able to see their name and town, and even exchange a message with them. Right now there are thousands of folks willing to match whatever amount you decide to give.
You'll have double the impact if you decide to make your first donation of $5 or more to the 2012 campaign now. How about it?
From the start of President Obama's 2008 campaign, this operation has viewed fundraising as part of a larger organizing mission.
Taking ownership of the campaign is an essential part of the experience, right alongside making phone calls, knocking on doors, and taking responsibility for getting your network of friends, colleagues, and neighbors to join us.
Relying on each other to own this campaign isn't just the most viable way we can grow a truly grassroots organization -- it's also the right way to do politics. Taking money from Washington lobbyists or special-interest PACs is the easy path -- and every single one of our prospective opponents is racing down it.
That's not the kind of race we want to run. I know there are easier ways to fund a presidential campaign than getting a whole lot of people to give five dollars or more. But it's an explicit rejection of the money-for-influence game that paralyzes our politics.
So while other campaigns boast about raising tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, we're focusing on a different kind of mission: to get as many people as possible to give, as early as possible.
Right now, our most committed supporters are willing to double the impact of your first donation to the 2012 campaign. I'd like them to find out that their promise to give inspired you.
Make your matching donation now:
https://donate.barackobama.com/2011-Match
Thanks so much,
Jim Messina
Campaign Manager - Obama for America"
Contributions or gifts to "Obama for America" are not tax deductible.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
"Beauty Queens Gone Cold" @ Kitchen 305
Join us at Kitchen 305 (16701 Collins Ave., Sunny Isles, FL) tonight, from 8pm to 3am, for the ICE QUEENS Fashion Show and theatrical production, featuring designs by Ana Kras and Fanney Ingvarsdóttir on the runway. The show will feature a high couture, traditional runway show followed by theatrical dance piece with interaction between dancers, audience and models.Runway presentation will include crowns, gowns, high drama and storytelling as the models go from pristine beauty queens to cold queens of classic "falling from grace" behavior. You will not be able to take your eyes off stage as story of fashion, beauty, and bad decisions unfolds to a glorious, climatic story on stage.
Live music by Charlie Roc
Sounds by DJ Hana
Ladies drink free from 9pm-11pm
Thx to Francine Lorenzo & Saul Rodriguez for the invitation
RSVP AT 305-749-2110
(DJ Hana)
DVD of the Month - "Joe Zawinul 75th"
DVD of the MonthJoe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate: "75th" (Zyx) 2011
Produced by Tony Zawinul for BirdJam Productions
Executive Producers: The Zawinul Estate & Joachim Becker
Total Time: 100 minutes
Streo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
Aspect Ratio: 16:9, PAL
Filmed for a TV broadcast for RTSI on July 7, 2007, the day Joseph Zawinul was celebrating his 75th birthday (he would die two months later, on September 11). This superb open-air concert @ the Lugano Jazz Festival, in Switzerland, features the last incarnation of the Zawinul Syndicate band. Two expatriated Brazilian musicians play their assess off: Santa Catarina-born guitarist Alegre Correa (famous for his work with Raul de Souza and the Vienna Art Orchestra) and the Rio de Janeiro-born percussionist Jorge Bezerra, a charismatic performer heard on pandeiro, congas, timbales etc. All tunes are composed by Zawinul, except "Clariô," an original by Correa, who also sings a la João Bosco.
The other musicians are no less important: bassist Linley Marthe (a mixture of Darryl Jones with Alphonso Johnson), wild drummer Paco Sery (who also does an impressive kalimba solo), and percussionists-vocalists Aziz Sahmaqui (from Morocco, shining specially on the celestial intro of the opening track) & Sabine Kabongo (from Congo).
As a bonus track, the haunting meeting of Zawinul and Wayne Shorter on a keyboards/soprano sax duo on the classic "In A Silent Way," filmed a few weeks later on August 2nd, 2007, @ the Vezprem Festival, in Hungary. Both the audio & video quality of this bonus track are not so good, but the performance is mesmerizing. An essential item for all Zawinul and Weather Report fans.
Tracklist:
01 Orient Express
02 Madagascar
03 Clario
04 Scarlet Woman
05 Fast City/Two Lines
06 Zansa II
07 Cafe Andalusia
08 Badia/ Boogie Woogie Waltz
09 In A Silent Way (bonus track)
CD Reissue of the Month - "Freddie Hubbard: First Light"
CD Reissue of the MonthFreddie Hubbard: "First Light" (CTI/Sony) 1971/2011
Rating:
***** (musical performance)
***** (recording & mixing)
***** (digital remastering)
Produced by Creed Taylor
Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder
Recorded @ Van Gelder Studio (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey) on September 14 & 16, 1971
Cover & back photos: Pete Turner
Liner photo: Dean Brown
Album design: Bob Ciano
CD reissue produced by Richard Seidel
Mastered by Mark Wilder & Maria Triana @ Battery Studios, NYC, NY.
OK, I know that "Red Clay" is regarded as Freddie Hubbard's masterpiece. And love I that album, as much as I adore "Sky Dive." But my personal favorite Hubbard album ever always was "First Light." The first time I met him in person, in LA in the late 70s, I told him about it. He smiled and hugged me, saying: "it's my favorite album too!" A decade later, when working with him in a recording session for Swiss-based Brazilian guitarist Roberto Avila, I pretended I had forgotten our conversation and asked him which was his best album ever. He confirmed his choice.
It's not difficult to understand why. And it's easy to understand why the jazz purists hate it. It's one of those truly perfect CTI albums produced by Creed Taylor, with a fabulous crossover repertoire, great cover art, impeccable sound courtesy of Rudy Van Gelder, an all-star cast featuring CTI giants (Ron Carter, George Benson, Airto - still signed to the Buddah label but ready to move to Creed's stable - Hubert Laws), superdrummer Jack DeJohnette and the underrated pianist Richard Wyands, who also recorded on Kenny Burrell's "God Bless The Child," and played Fender Rhodes exclusively on this set.
Above all, there's the superb work by genius arranger Don Sebesky, who provided magnificent scores for strings & woodwinds, besides contributing as composer of a lovely ballad, "Yesterday's Dreams." In many CTI All-Stars concerts that remain unissued, Hubbard played "Yesterday's Dreams" a capella on flugelhorn (although he had recorded it using a muted trumpet), always receiving standing ovations. Not to mention the fantastic groove of the title track, which became an instant classic and another must-have song in all Hubbard's live performances during his CTI days.
The three other tracks sound fantastic too: Leonard Bernstein's haunting "Lonely Town" (with Phil Kraus' "classical percussion" and the only Wyands solo on the entire album), Henry Mancini's "Moment to Moment" (with Ron Carter quoting Moacir Santos' "Nanã" when starting the groove), and Paul McCartney/Linda McCartney's "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (from Paul's album "Ram"), a single which had reached number one on the Billboard Pop Chart one month earlier, in August 1971, making it the first of post-Beatles singles composed by McCartney to top the US pop chart during the '70s.
Not surprisingly, "First Light" also reached the Billboard charts, peaking at #9 in the Jazz list and #25 in the R&B list after its original LP release in January 1972. And, most deservedly so, gave Freddie Hubbard a Grammy Award. 40 years later, it still sounds fresh and contemporary. Cheers!
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This CD reissue also includes two bonus tracks: Cedar Walton's "Polar AC" (aka "Fantasy in D" aka "Ugetsu") and a live version of "First Light". You'll find more details below in the text that CTI's top connoisseur, Doug Payne, wrote for his "Sound Insights" blog:
http://dougpayne.blogspot.com/2011/04/celebrating-cti-records-40th.html
Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s third CTI album was issued in January 1972 to sparse critical fanfare. The little critical attention the album did receive was mostly negative, particularly from the jazz cognoscenti, who saw Hubbard’s step onto this slippery slope of pop super-stardom start with his previous CTI albums. First Light was the last straw. Freddie Hubbard’s reputation with jazz critics never really recovered.
Despite the presence of some of jazz’s best – and most influential – artists, including guitarist George Benson, pianist Richard Wyands, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnette, First Light was slammed for Don Sebesky’s always critically-attacked sweetening and the presence of a huge pop-hit cover of the day (the million-selling number 1 hit “Uncle Albert Admiral Halsey” by Paul and Linda McCartney).
Even Hubbard’s superb title song was derided as a riff-based jam tune that didn’t require the chops or the talent of a soloist who factored on some of the era’s most important jazz recordings by otherwise-celebrated jazz heroes Oliver Nelson, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Hancock.
Still, First Light proved not only to be one of CTI’s very best sellers at the time, it also won the trumpeter his first and only Grammy Award in 1972 for Best Jazz Performance over and above other such CTI competition as George Benson’s White Rabbit (also arranged by Don Sebesky) and Joe Farrell’s Outback. The trumpeter himself was often heard to claim First Light as his personal favorite of his own records.
Hubbard’s title track is a truly inspired composition that seemingly yields more than its 11 minutes suggests. Freddie Hubbard wails with impassioned desire. George Benson plays one of his most deliciously intricate, yet achingly lyrical solos. Carter comps (if that doesn’t sound too derogatory) in a way that suggests melody and counter-melody all at once. Sebesky lays back quite a bit, only adding spare commentary from properly placed strings, vibes (playing accentuating whole tones, a Sebesky trait) and a flute section led by Hubert Laws, who solos occasionally.
“First Light” became something of a hit (it was issued as the album’s single) and a signature song for the trumpeter. Freddie Hubbard often played the song live and it was captured as part of the same 1973 concert that yielded the two In Concert albums CTI released several years later. That performance of “First Light,” which was not issued on the In Concert records, was included on this and the previous CD of First Light, featuring (a strangely uncredited) Herbie Hancock on electric piano, Eric Gale on guitar as well as Carter and DeJohnette (a 1972 performance of the tune was issued on the 1977 album CTI Summer Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl – Live One).
Like so many of Don Sebesky’s previous Beatles arrangements, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is a lot better than it sounds like it would be. It’s more imaginative than listeners of the McCartneys’ song would expect, matching a Stravinsky-styled arrangement with a funk rhythm which makes for creative jazz and provides sparklingly terrific solos from Hubbard, Benson, Carter and Laws.
“Moment to Moment,” Henry Mancini’s surprisingly little-known theme from the 1965 film of the same name, and Leonard Bernstein’s “Lonely Town” (from On the Town) both get terrifically orchestral readings here that focus purely on Freddie’s melodicism and Sebesky’s impressionistic backdrop.
Sebesky’s absolutely ravishing “Yesterday’s Dreams” started life as “Yesterday’s Dream” on Dizzy Gillespie’s Sebesky-arranged album Cornucopia (1969). Sebesky adds more strings to this variation and Hubbard mutes his horn here (Dizzy’s was open). But while Sebesky’s arrangement of the tune is much more subtle and preferable in the Gillespie version, it’s hard to deny the improved beauty that Hubbard, Carter and the chameleonic Jack DeJohnette bring to this particularly lovely variation of “Yesterday’s Dreams.”
Also recorded at these sessions is Cedar Walton’s “Fantasy in D” (first heard under that title on the 1973 Art Blakey album Anthenagin). Composer and pianist Cedar Walton was a longtime friend and associate of Hubbard’s, dating back to their time together in the Jazz Messengers and surely provided Hubbard with this song, even before recording it with Art Blakey, though the LP’s limited playing restrictions at the time prevented Walton’s song from being included on the First Light LP. Several years after Freddie Hubbard departed CTI for Columbia Records, producer Creed Taylor dug out the song (complete with a finished Sebesky string arrangement and lovely solos from both Freddie Hubbard and Hubert Laws) and called it, for whatever reason, “Polar AC.” It became the title track to that 1975 LP, which was recently issued on CD by Wounded Bird Records. The song is also featured here, under the title that Cedar Walton gave it on the album where it really belongs.
Like Hubbard’s previous album, Straight Life, First Light benefits by not one but two Pete Turner photographs, one on the front cover and a different one on the back cover. The front cover, one of the few CTI releases of the period that actually showed the artist, was especially shot for the album to show Hubbard and his horns. The back cover photo, “Hong Kong Rolls” (1963), was juxtaposed by the photographer himself to reflect the front cover’s golden horns, presumably both reflecting the golden glow of “first light.”
Vocal CD of the Month - "Kurt Elling: The Gate"
Vocal CD of the MonthKurt Elling: "The Gate" (Concord) 2011
Rating:
****1/2 (musical performance)
***** (sonic quality)
Kurt Elling's "The Gate" is his most provocative, hippest and coolest recording to date. Produced by the Grammy-winning Don Was, this nine-track set features the vocalist providing singing lessons (in terms of creative phrasing, astounding breath control, gorgeous tone, and the use of silence as a musical element) in the company of longtime pianist/musical director Laurence Hobgood, saxophonist Bob Mintzer, guitarist John McLean (providing lessons in subtleties), bassist John Patitucci, drummers Terreon Gulley & Kobie Watkins, and Lenny Castro on unobstrusive percussion (in four tracks only).
The material ranges from jazz classics such as Miles Davis/Bill Evans' "Blue in Green" (the album highlight, with lyrics by Al Jarreau) to Herbie Hancock's groovy "Come Running to Me," including highly individualized readings of "After The Love Has Gone" (the David Foster-Jay Graydon-Bill Champlin mega hit for Earth, Wind & Fire), King Crimson's "Matte Kudasai" (the opening track), Joe Jackson's delightful "Steppin' Out," and Stevie Wonder's "Golden Lady," to the original "Samurai Cowboy," co-written with Marc Johnson.
Elling, who has finally completed the transition from a vocalist heavily influenced by Mark Murphy to become his own man, also added lyrics to "Nightown, Lady Bright," one of the many great tunes composed by the late (and extremely underrated) pianist Don Grolnick. The 9-minute closing tracks includes Elling, backed by special effects, reading an excepert from Duke Ellington's bio "Music Is My Mistress." The only less interesting track is an uninspired rendition of the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood," but saved by an excellent rock-ish guitar solo. Anyway, this CD already has my vote for Best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.
The album, beautifully engineered, was recorded by Chris Allen @ Sear Sound, New York, NY, on March 15, 16 & 17, 2010, with additional recording & mixing by Seth Presant @ Village Studios, Los Angeles, CA.
*********
Press Release
The New York Times is one of numerous publications to declare that Kurt Elling is the "standout male vocalist of our time," and "The Gate," Elling's follow-up to his Grammy-winning "Dedicated to You," is among his strongest albums--and perhaps the finest of his career. Produced by Don Was (Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan), "The Gate" is a musical collection in which boundaries cease to exist, a sensibility enhanced by producer Don Was, who had expressed the desire to work with Elling--an opportunity which Elling found irresistible.
"The Gate" points Elling into a new and satisfyingly emotional direction. He has somehow found a way to make a deeply personal statement out of the music of King Crimson, Joe Jackson, Stevie Wonder and the Beatles--in addition to providing a new and vibrant understanding of Miles Davis, Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock. That Elling is first and foremost a jazz singer makes the work searching and enthralling. His phrasing is cool and meditative as he ventures into areas usually reserved for instrumentalists. As a lyricist, Elling breathes new life into gems previously known only for their melodies. "His words are informed by a powerful poetic spirit," said poet and Bollingen Prize winner Robert Creeley. "Kurt Elling takes us into a world of sacred particulars."
"The Gate" features longtime associate, Laurence Hobgood on piano, Bob Mintzer on sax, John McLean on guitar, John Patitucci on bass and two drummers, Terreon Gulley and Kobie Watkins--in addition to percussionist Lenny Castro. Said Elling, "The musicians on this recording inspired me to be...better." Said The Washington Post, "Since the mid-1990s, no singer in jazz has been as daring, dynamic or interesting as Kurt Elling. With his soaring vocal flights, his edgy lyrics and sense of being on a musical mission, he has come to embody the creative spirit in jazz." That spirit is in rich evidence on "The Gate"--and a musical feast awaits those who pass through.
Kurt Elling is among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. He has been named “Male Singer of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association on half a dozen occasions in the past ten years, and during the same interval has been the perennial winner of the DownBeat Critics and Readers Polls. He is also a Grammy winner, and every record he has made has been Grammy nominated.
Elling’s rich baritone spans four octaves and features both astonishing technical mastery and emotional depth. His command of rhythm, texture, phrasing, and dynamics is more like a virtuoso jazz instrumentalist than a vocalist. His repertoire includes original compositions and modern interpretations of standards, all of which are springboards for inspired improvisation, scatting, spoken word, and poetry.
Declared The New York Times, “Elling is the standout male vocalist of our time.” Said The Washington Post, “Since the mid-1990s, no singer in jazz has been as daring, dynamic or interesting as Kurt Elling. With his soaring vocal flights, his edgy lyrics and sense of being on a musical mission, he has come to embody the creative spirit in jazz.” He has been featured in profiles for CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, on Ramsey Lewis’s Legends of Jazz, and in hundreds of publications.
Elling has recorded and/or performed with an array of artists, including Terence Blanchard, Dave Brubeck, Jon Hendricks, Charlie Hunter, Al Jarreau, Christian McBride, and Kurt Rosenwinkel. He served as the Artist-in-Residence for the Singapore Music and Monterey Jazz Festivals. He has also written multi-disciplinary works for The Steppenwolf Theatre and the City of Chicago. The Obama Administration’s first state dinner featured Elling in a command performance.
Elling is a renowned artist of vocalese—the writing and performing of words over recorded improvised jazz solos. The natural heir to jazz pioneers Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure, and Jon Hendricks, Elling has set his own lyrics to the improvised solos of Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett, and Pat Metheny. He often incorporates images and references from writers such as Rilke, Rumi, Neruda, and Proust into his work. The late poet and Bollingen Prize winner Robert Creeley wrote, “Kurt Elling takes us into a world of sacred particulars. His words are informed by a powerful poetic spirit.”
In 2010 Elling completed an extensive tour with the Monterey Jazz Festival All-Stars and staged Passion World, a commissioned event for Jazz at Lincoln Center with French accordion virtuoso Richard Galliano, singing songs of love and loss in five languages.
Instrumental CD of the Month - "James Carter: Caribbean Rhapsody"
Instrumental CD of the MonthJames Carter: "Caribbean Rhapsody" (Decca/EmArcy) 2011
Rating:
***** (musical performance & sound quality)
Composed by Roberto Sierra
Produced by Michael Cuscuna
Engineered by Jim Anderson
"Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra" recorded on December 21, 2009, in Warswa, Poland
"Caribbean Rhapsody" recorded on March 18, 2010
Sonny Rollins always was universally known as the sax titan. We also had John Coltrane and Michael Brecker playing "on the edge." Now it's James Carter time to be acclaimed as a titan, a real sax virtuoso with no limits to his musical ideas. This new CD, released on May 17, is a milestone in the amazing discography of Carter's (fortunately) unpredictable career. A master of all games in full command of his heart, body and mind. Regina Carter and Akua Dixon are two other virtuosi who also transcend any expectation in the way they both do such stunning contributions to "Caribbean Rhapsody." Beyond jazz, beyond "normal" classical music, beyond even crossover. Like Miles would say, "call it anything." It doesn't matter. You can't label it. Roberto Sierra? A genius! Period. One of the top 10 albums of the year, in any genre.
The extraordinary decade-long collaboration of jazz virtuoso James Carter and classical composer Roberto Sierra comes to a thrilling culmination with the release of their first recording, "Caribbean Rhapsody." Sierra’s "Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra," composed for Carter and premiered in Detroit in 2002, is the centerpiece of the new Emarcy CD; a new Sierra composition, “Caribbean Rhapsody,” which features Carter, his musical cousin Regina Carter on violin, and string quintet, is a gorgeous companion piece. Two solo interludes on tenor and soprano saxophones respectively were composed by Carter in response to themes and elements in both of Sierra’s works.
“What immediately struck me was that he played with total command and mastery of the instrument,” says Sierra, a professor of composition at Cornell University. “James is the Paganini of the saxophone. He and the instrument are one. To me that was amazing, right from the start.”
The concerto was recorded in Warsaw with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero (music director of the Nashville Symphony). Carter was joined by violinist Regina Carter along with cellist Akua Dixon’s string quintet for the recording of “Caribbean Rhapsody” in New York. Michael Cuscuna produced the new album; Wulf Müller and Cynthia B. Herbst served as executive producers.
"The Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra" was commissioned for James Carter by the saxophonist’s hometown Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It was premiered by the DSO and its music director, Neeme Jarvi, in October 2002 and reprised by them the following year. “There are no real precedents for the concerto,” Sierra says. “To me it was clear I could not look at the past, I had to imagine something and do it.”
For Carter, the premiere was just the beginning of an ongoing process exploring the emotional nuances and melodic contours of Sierra’s breathtakingly intricate work. “It proves to be a very delicate yet strong balance of written music, improvisation, and the cadenzas,” says Carter, 42. “They’re strategically placed, especially the one that always challenges me as to which way to go as far as improv is concerned—the end of the third movement segueing into the fourth and the finale. It’s like an atonal boogie-woogie. Blues is always a place you have to come home to, so it was a very fitting ending.”
For “Caribbean Rhapsody,” Sierra draws on memories of his growing up in Puerto Rico and the music he heard on jukeboxes in cafetines—from the sensuous opening bolero to the Latin riffs reminiscent of son montuno. He was “curious to see the combination of James and Regina improvising together and also on two different instruments—the sax, basically from the jazz tradition, and the violin, the quintessential orchestral instrument. And of course I had the ideal players.” The CD’s producer Michael Cuscuna calls it “contemporary classical music of the highest order.”
An artist long intrigued by contrasts and hybrids, Carter resists comfortable categorization. “You have to be totally comfortable wherever,” he says. “I think there’s tremendous beauty in cross-pollinations of music and influences.”
"Caribbean Rhapsody" is Carter’s 13th album and his second for Emarcy Records. "Present Tense" (2008), which featured trumpeter Dwight Adams, bassist James Genus, drummer Victor Lewis, and pianist D.D. Jackson, was described in a four-star Rolling Stone review as “Presidential Carter: soulfulness and technique in perfect balance.”
The making of Caribbean Rhapsody:
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBqe4x1hFqo
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHecLLDr_d4
**********
James Carter – bio
Sometimes it takes an extraordinary talent to inspire an unprecedented piece of music. For Puerto Rican–born composer Roberto Sierra, the epiphany struck in the midst of a tenor saxophone solo by James Carter, who was appearing as the featured soloist with legendary soprano Kathleen Battle. Long fascinated by the horn, Sierra immediately realized he had encountered a master capable of playing anything he could imagine.
Working closely with Carter over several months, he composed a four-part concerto that seamlessly integrates the forms and harmonic language of contemporary classical music, Latin rhythms, and jazz’s improvisational imperative. Documented on Carter’s 13th release and his second for Universal, "Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra" is a singular work that stands alone in the jazz and classical canons, half belonging to each world. In a fascinating collaboration that neither could have foreseen, one of classical music’s most widely respected composers has given this era’s most prodigious saxophonist the role of a lifetime.
“What immediately struck me was that he played with total command and mastery of the instrument,” says Sierra, a professor of composition at Cornell University. “James is the Paganini of the saxophone. He and the instrument are one. To me that was amazing, right from the start.”
Carter premiered the concerto with his hometown Detroit Symphony Orchestra in October 2002, a performance that elicited such a rapturous response that he and the orchestra reprised the last movement as an encore. As the Detroit News music critic reported, “In your lifetime, did you ever witness such a thing—the reprise of a new work, on the spot? Neither did I, until Thursday night, when Carter and conductor Neeme Jarvi finally gave in to a storm that showed no signs of abating and recapped the last long stretch of Roberto Sierra’s brilliant ‘Concerto for Saxophones.’”
Written for soprano and tenor saxophones, "Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra" and “Caribbean Rhapsody” (the CD title track) don’t just represent a new musical synthesis, they embody a state-of-the-art open-source collaboration in which Carter and Sierra worked through the piece’s details together, a process that continued up until they recorded the piece last year in Poland with a world-class orchestra under the direction of Costa Rican–raised conductor Giancarlo Guerrero (music director of the Nashville Symphony). For Carter, the premiere was just the beginning of an ongoing process exploring the emotional nuances and melodic contours of Sierra’s breathtakingly intricate work.
“Roberto said, ‘Let me know if something’s not happening. It’s your piece to deal with,’” recalls Carter. “He’s not a stick-in-the-mud composer, pulling out his hair saying ‘You’re not playing it right!’ It continues to grow. I started thinking of the tenor and soprano as male and female roles, giving them a little more personality and incorporating some elements of the written material in the cadenza, which gave it more cohesion. There’s so much to draw from in the piece.”
In the early stages there was almost too much in the piece. At least that was Carter’s first impression upon receiving the score for the opening movement. Romantic and roiling, the concerto kicks off with rapidly shifting lines that jump and skitter from the bottom of the tenor to the top. The orchestra shadows the horn, converging and diverging in a series of quicksilver harmonic feints. When the beatific second movement arrives like a gentle breeze blowing across a balmy sunlit field, it feels as if a soul-shaking storm has passed, but Carter initially only saw the deluge.
“The score looked like a bunch of poppy seeds had fallen onto the page, with a bunch of bars going every which way,” Carter says. “I’m looking at all this ink being slung around, thinking, this cat’s trying to kill me! And this is only the first movement. I sat down with a metronome, and realized that it’s all about dancing metrics and if we keep it together and make sure every bar lands precisely, we’d be cool.”
Carter worked through the concerto’s various technical challenges, including several that he had never encountered before. In the sumptuously lyrical second movement, he has to switch seamlessly from soprano to tenor in midstream without missing a beat, a feat he repeats in the space of eight bars in the blazing third movement. Sierra showcases Carter’s soaring unaccompanied tenor in the cadenza leading to the fourth movement, which serves as the perfect setup for the hard-grooving title section, an atonal boogie-woogie blues that both embraces and blows apart jazz conventions.
“There are no real precedents for the concerto,” Sierra says. “A lot of work that wants to be in both of these idioms doesn’t work very well, because it loses the edge on both sides of the equation. To me it was clear I could not look at the past, I had to imagine something and do it.”
The album continues the musical dialogue between Sierra and Carter with the saxophonist’s soaring “Tenor Interlude” and dramatic “Soprano Interlude,” pieces he composed in response to the concerto and Sierra’s title composition. “Caribbean Rhapsody” draws inspiration from the sounds Sierra heard growing up in Puerto Rico, where music is woven into the fabric of everyday life. Carter is again featured on tenor and soprano, though this time he’s joined by master violinist and fellow Detroiter Regina Carter, and cellist Akua Dixon’s String Quintet. As a reed among strings Carter blends his sound beautifully with the ensemble, which handles the accelerating rhythms, from a caressing bolero to torrid salsa groove, with all the dexterity one expects from a world-class jazz combo.
An artist long intrigued by contrasts and hybrids, Carter resists comfortable categorization. Born and raised in Detroit, Carter grew up surrounded by music, soaking up everything from funk and fusion to rock, soul, and various strains of acoustic jazz. He studied with his musical father, Donald Washington, and had developed enough technique by his early teens to win a scholarship to the prestigious Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (in 1985 he became the youngest faculty member at 16!) and Interlochen Center for the Arts summer program. He performed sporadic orchestral and club dates with Wynton Marsalis from December 1985 to July 1987. But it was the late trumpeter Lester Bowie who first brought Carter to New York, inviting him to perform with his New York Organ Combo.
Bowie dropped Carter’s name to a number of his associates, opening some important doors. Most significantly, Carter hooked up with the great altoist and groundbreaking composer Julius Hemphill, playing an essential role on his two last saxophone sextet albums, "Fat Man and the Hard Blues" and "Five Chord Stud" (both on Black Saint). It also led to playing and recording with one of his musical heroes, the late Frank Lowe and his group the Saxemble. The Bowie connection also led to Carter’s debut recording, the 1993 DWI/Columbia album "JC on the Set," a quartet tour de force that announced the arrival of a superlative new talent equally expressive on alto, tenor, and baritone sax (though he’s added several other horns over the years, most importantly soprano sax).
It might seem odd that Carter has been associated with both Marsalis and Bowie, considering the two musicians clashed frequently over their diametrically opposed views of the jazz tradition. But Carter always finds a way into what ever musical situation he finds himself in, whether he’s working with an opera diva, an iconoclastic Chicago trumpeter, or a visionary classical composer.
“You have to be totally comfortable wherever,” Carter says. “I feel that music equals life, that’s the way my teacher always taught me. You just can’t go through life and experience it fully with a set of blinders on. I think there’s tremendous beauty in cross-pollinations of music and influences.”
In many ways, weaving together divergent impulses is at the heart of Carter’s music. Like the late tenor sax titan Ben Webster, he’s given to furious, high-velocity solos, but is just as likely to wax sentimental, using his big, bruising tone to tenderly caress a comely melody. In 2000, he released two albums simultaneously that amounted to an anti-manifesto, a proclamation that everything is fair game.
On "Chasin’ the Gypsy," a voluptuous, lyrical session partly inspired by the timeless collaboration between Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, he assembled a thrilling group with violinist Regina Carter and Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, a project born out of some sound check jamming with Lubambo and Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista during a tour with Kathleen Battle. The groove-laden "Layin’ in the Cut," featuring James Blood Ulmer’s former rhythm section with electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer Grant Calvin Weston, combines harmolodic freedom with a deep reservoir of funk, and developed out of a project inspired by another legendary guitarist, Jimi Hendrix.
He’s reinvented the organ combo (with 2005’s "Out of Nowhere" and again in 2009 with John Medeski on "Heaven and Earth"), explored the music of alt-rock band Pavement (on 2005’s "Gold Sounds"), and paid loving tribute to Billie Holiday (on 2003’s "Gardenias for Lady Day"). Taken in context, Carter’s creative rendezvous with Sierra makes perfect sense.
A protégé of the late, legendary Hungarian composer György Ligeti, Sierra first gained national attention in 1987 when his breakthrough orchestral composition, Júbilo, earned strong reviews after a Carnegie Hall performance by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Since then an international array of leading orchestras and ensembles has interpreted his music, from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra to Kronos Quartet and England’s BBC Symphony.
Growing up in Puerto Rico, Sierra absorbed folk music and dance tunes, and he feels the rhythmic connection with Carter is the foundation of their collaboration. While Sierra didn’t listen widely to straight-ahead jazz in his formative years, the era’s most advanced salsa bands fascinated him, particularly Eddie Palmieri, while Carter had immersed himself in European classical music as an aspiring player.
“In a way, James somehow understood my melodic and harmonic language in the same way I understood his ability to improvise,” Sierra says. “I could sense what he could do, and he could sense what I wanted him to do. It’s up to future generations what happens with a composition. If something has the power to stay it will and I think this will live on.”
"Jazzthing" - June/July/August 2011
ContentsAusgabe 89, Juni - August 2011
Features:
Bugge Wesseltoft & Henrik Schwarz
Kunst für den Moment
Der norwegische Jazzpianist und der Berliner Elektronik-Produzent und DJ haben zu einer symbiotischen Verbindung gefunden.
Creed Taylor
Produktivkräfte der Musikwelt, Folge 58
Der Erfolgsproduzent und Gründer der Labels Impulse! und CTI blickt anlässlich einer Werkschau auf 50 Jahre Jazzgeschichte zurück.
Joshua Redman
Mitten im Prozess
Der Ästhet des schönen Klangs hat mit dem Quartett „James Farm“ erneut ein ausgezeichnetes Album eingespielt.
American Jazz Heroes Teil 3
Wegen des großen Erfolgs um mindestens drei Folgen verlängert:
Arne Reimer war einmal mehr im Geburtsland des Jazz, hat US-Jazz-Legenden besucht und berichtet darüber in Text und Bild.
Reggie Workman „Wenn man erst einmal angefangen hat, die Musik zu spielen, ist jeder wichtig.“
Pete La Roca Sims „Für mich wäre es wie Selbstmord gewesen, den Backbeat zu spielen.“
Harold Mabern „Die Clubs und Straßen waren meine Universität.“
Stanley Cowell „Mr. Monk, ich habe ein paar Kompositionen in Ihrem Stil geschrieben!“
Al Di Meola
Kopf mit Herz
Ein frühmorgendliches Interview über Quellen der Inspiration, seine neue Band World Sinfonia und den Charme sardischer Nächte.
Stadt, Land, Jazz
Der Jazz thing Städte-Check, Teil 2: Berlin, Dortmund, Hamburg, Leipzig, München
Wer ist die „Jazzhauptstadt“ Deutschlands? Und was haben die anderen Städte in Sachen Jazz, Kultur und Lebensqualität zu bieten?
Zweiter und letzter Teil der Reihe.
Played in Britain
Der ewige Aufbruch des Brit-Jazz
Feiert der Brit-Jazz mit Acts wie Saxofonist Soweto Kinch, Klarinettist Arun Ghosh und Pianist Kit Downe endlich mal ein anhaltendes Comeback?
Branford Marsalis & Joey Calderazzo
Aus Fehlern lernen
Zwei Viertel des Branford Marsalis Quartet begegnen sich im Duo, als wär’s das erste Mal.
Madeleine Peyroux Zwischenzeit
Seun Kuti Der Weltbürger von Lagos
Stories
Nicola Conte Zeit für den Wechsel
Michel Godard Genussmensch
Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer ECM remixen: dürfen die das?
Vieux Farka Touré Gitarrengipfel
Seasick Steve Blues Trash Chic
Angela Winkler Von Brecht/Weill zu Brecht/Winkler
Benjamin Schatz Ein Klavier klingt überall
Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp auf Spurensuche
Craig Taborn Vertraue deinen Händen
Martin Wind Baltische Windkraft
Colin Towns Magischer Süßigkeitenladen
Lucas Niggli Der Musikarchitekt
Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr Brothers in Style
+++ Randy Weston. Jamie Woon. Jacob Karlzon. Arne Huber. Eddie Roberts. Mo’ Horizons. Johannes Ochsenbauer. Marcio Fáraco. Verve Today. Viviane de Farias. Achim Tang. Cover-Unarten von Verve. Three Fall. Susanne Sundfør. Trio Joubran. ECHO Jazz CD. Simin Tander. Dirk Blümlein. Mo‘ Blow. Raphael Gualazzi. Tineke Postma. Miguel Iven. Axel Fischbacher. Matthew Halsall. Nuevo Tango Ensamble. Forty Thieves Orkestar. Bruno Böhmer Camacho. Hotel Bossa Nova. Mauerpark. Facts & Fakes. Community Talk. Live Things. Live At The Borderline. Free ‚n‘ Easy. Retro. Homegrown. Blue Rhythm. Jazz Not Jazz. Play. On Tour. Scene & Heard.
"DownBeat" - June 2011
COVERMonk's Legacy -- On the eve of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz's 25th anniversary, DownBeat sits down with drummer T.S. Monk to discuss his legendary dad's enduring legacy and its profound impact on today's jazz education community.
FEATURES
Gordon Goodwin -- Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band celebrates and personifies the best of the big band tradition with a contemporary and original sound. The LA-based saxophonist/composer's witty arrangements propel the listener on a journey through Latin, blues, swing and hard-hitting jazz.
Terell Stafford -- Trumpeter Stafford, known for his extensive sideman work and commitment to jazz education, continues to make his mark as a bandleader and composer.
James Genus -- He plays on TV to millions each week, but not everyone knows the electric and acoustic bassist who works with some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz.
Special Section: 34th Annual Student Music Awards -- DownBeat honors the best and the brightest student jazz musicians and school ensembles from across the country.
PLAYERS
TK Blue (saxophone)
Jonathan Kreisberg (guitar)
Roberta Piket (piano/organ)
Shauli Einav (saxophone)
BLINDFOLD TEST -- Chucho Valdez
THE BEAT
· Ryan Truesdell launches Gil Evans Centennial Project via ArtistShare.
· National Endowment For The Arts proposes cutting Jazz Masters program.
· Alligator Records celebrates 40th anniversary of blues records.
· Chicago's South Side jazz scene gets itself together post-Velvet Lounge.
· European Scene
· Caught: Bergamo Jazz Festival; John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble tour; Sheila Jordan sings/narrates life story in Los Angeles
JAZZ ON CAMPUS
Professor David Gill develops new summer course for combining jazz and religion at Vancouver's Regent College.
WOODSHED
· How to Transcribe Solos: From Recording To Paper
· Branford Marsalis saxophone solo from "Crazy People Music"
REVIEWS - Hot Box
Charlie Haden Quartet West, Sophisticated Ladies (EmArcy/Universal)
Fred Hersch, Alone At The Vanguard (Palmetto)
Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra, Treelines (Justin Time)
Orrin Evans, Captain Black Big Band (Posi-Tone)
CD Reviews
Brad Mehldau, Live In Marciac (Nonesuch)
KLANG, Other Doors (Allos Musica)
Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, 40 Acres and a Burro (Zoho)
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, That's How We Roll (Telarc)
Christine Sullivan, Away (self release)
Colin Vallon Trio, Rruga (ECM)
Paul van Kemenade, Close Enough (KEMO)
Gretchen Parlato, Lost And Found (Obliqsound)
Joel Harrison String Choir, The Music Of Paul Motian (Sunnyside)
Dave Rempis Percussion Quartet, Montreal Parade (482 Music)
Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble, The Prairie Prophet (Delmark)
Alexis Cuadrado, Noneto Iberico (BJU)
Ernest Stuart, Solitary Walker (self-release)
Gerald Clayton, Bond: The Paris Sessions (Decca/EmArcy)
Ryan Cohan, Another Look (Motema)
Kermit Driscoll, Reveille (19-8)
Dave Chamberlain, Band Of Bones (self release)
Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet, To Hear From There (Patois)
Terell Stafford, This Side of Strayhorn (MaxJazz)
JD Allen, Victory (Sunnyside)
John Santos Y El Coro Folklorico Kidembo, La Esperanza (Machete)
Delfeayo Marsalis, Sweet Thunder (Troubador Jass)
Tim Berne, Insomnia (Clean Feed)
Mostly Other People Do The Killing, The Coimbra Concert (Clean Feed)
Antonio Ciacca Quintet w/Steve Grossman, Lagos Blues (Motema)
Scott Hamilton/Rossano Sportiello, Midnight At NOLA's Penthouse (Arbors)
Jazz Column
Releases by New Orleans Artists
Blues Column
Dennis Taylor, Steppin' Up (Kizybosh)
Los Fabulocos w/ Kid Ramos, Dos (Delta Groove)
Albert King/Stevie Ray Vaughan, In Session... (Stax/Concord)
Todd Sharpville, Porchlight (MIG)
Quinn Sullivan, Cyclone (GBG)
Grana' Louise, Gettin Kind of Rough (Delmark)
Soulive, Bowlive (MVD)
Beyond Column
Fela Kuti LP reissues (Label Maison/Wrase/Knitting Factory): Fear Not For Man
Sorrow Tears and Blood, Beasts Of No Nation, Expensive Shit, Everything Scatter, Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense
Seun Kuti: From Africa With Fury: Rise (Knitting Factory)
Femi Kuti: Africa For Africa (Knitting Factory)
Historical Column
Take A Look: Aretha Franklin Complete On Columbia (Legacy/Sony)
Book Review Column
Robert Reisman, I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy (University of Chicago)
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